welcome to "early start." i'm poppy harlow. "starting point" begins right now.

good morning, everyone. i'm john berman. >> and i'm christine romans. soledad has the day off today. our "starting point," a powerful snowstorm wreaking havoc in spring. from road closures to airport cancellations in the midwest and the northeast we've got it covered like no other network can. >> this just in to cnn. moments ago secretary of state john kerry making a surprise visit to kabul in afghanistan. can he smooth over tensions with hamid karzai? >> then, could amanda knox face another trial despite being cleared of her roommate's murder. italian judges ruling on an appeal this morning. we're live in rome. >> and jaw dropping video of a great white shark thrashing its way into a shark cage with the diver inside. we're going to talk to the man behind the camera coming up in a little bit. >> but everyone's favorite jersey girl, snooki, is here live talking about her new body, her beau, and her just baptized baby boy. it's monday, march 25th. "starting point" begins right now.

we are going to begin with winter's last gasp in spring. or should i say allegedly spring. from missouri to pennsylvania, millions of people dealing with rainy, snowy, slushy, awfulness. in indianapolis yesterday, too many fender benders to count. you have to check out this video. the weather rendering parts of st. louis nearly invisible. if you squint you can see it. parts of eastern indiana and western ohio were under a western storm warning through early this afternoon. the system continuing to track eastward. we have this all covered for you. susan candiotti is in dayton, ohio. shannon travis is in potomac, maryland, and jennifer delgado is in the cnn weather center in atlanta. we're going to start with susan in ohio. good morning, susan. >> good morning, john. it hasn't let up yet here although it's a light snow but it really came down after the sun went down last night. that's a shout-out to the university of dayton.

over my shoulder. as you can see some of the streets here are fairly clear. but others are far more treacherous as they're trying to get rid of this wet, slushy snow from a lot of areas and roads and highways in this dayton area. we are checking how much snow we've had here. now that's about four inches in the entire month of february, dayton only had four inches of snow. so, one snow fall took care of that for this month. it has been a crazy weather week friend the colorado rockies all the way to parts of florida. icy roads, slippery going near st. louis as a pickup truck slides down a street. just about everyone's tired of winter weather, in spring. >> it's crazy. i'm just sick of all the snow. like i was so ready for it back at christmas but now i'm over it. >> reporter: plows were tripling up in some parts of missouri as relentless snow blanketed highways. at lambert st. louis international airport, nasty

weather forcing cancellations. >> right now it could be a long day sitting around waiting. one flight has been rerouted. >> reporter: the severe weather sweeping in to the south. high winds uprooting trees in central florida. >> can't believe the tree fell on the car. could have got a lot worse than i did. >> reporter: violent thunderstorms temporarily washing out tiger woods' shot at a number one ranking after two holes. at the arnold palmer invitational broken tree limbs and flooded fairways postponing the tournament. at orlando international airport a wind gust clocked at 86 miles an hour. a jet swept against a hangar. in kansas city, about eight inches of snow forced churches to call off services. coloradans were among the first to feel the storm's fury, whiteout conditions, 150 mile stretch of interstate shut down, even a major pileup on i-25 at left a tractor trailer in flames. by late sunday in indiana and ohio, skies opened up, dropping

freezing rain and snow. making people wonder, where is spring? >> when it comes, it comes. this is ohio. we get snow. >> everybody says oh, yeah, spring is around the corner. >> he's pretty cute, isn't he? but there's nothing cute with the cleanup that's going to be involved in this. let's see if we can do a public service here. i'm tall enough. no i'm not. well, i was going to try to sweep off that sign. maybe in the next hour i'll use a step stool. anyway, but in all -- in all seriousness, the roads are a little tough, especially during the morning commutes. and these winter warnings are still going to be up until midafternoon here. the snow isn't expected to stop until at least then. >> susan candiotti you are a giant in journalism. thanks to you. >> that's what we call gallows humor at this point, too. we're so tired of this winter. the next challenge for the

weather weary the morning rush. shannon travis is following that from potomac, maryland. good morning. >> christine, good morning. the beauty of spring meet winter's wrath here in potomac, maryland. it's basically been coming down pretty steady. ever since we got here we've been kind of doing this unscientific test. christine of how much snow is gathering using my finger as a ruler. we're guessing about three inches right now. because my finger sticks down pretty deep up in there. again, this is the really kind of dry stuff that's sticking together pretty easily. just to give you a sense of where we are, we're on i-270. this is a main artery into the nation's capital into washington, d.c. folks from as far west as west virginia, north of pennsylvania. this right here, we're expecting it to be a serious mess with all of the snow on the highway. you can see in the distance there, a lot of red lights, a lot of cars braking, suggesting that there's a little bit of traffic stuff going on up there.

also, christine, another concern, snow hanging onto the trees. just want to show you this. you can see how the snow is pretty much just hanging on these branches. some of it is actually pounding down on our heads. this is a serious concern because a lot of this snow could snap those tree branches and come down on power lines. obviously that's a concern. another thing is clearing the snow, right here on this property that we're on, we spoke with the snow plow operator just moments ago. i asked him how long he expects to be out here. take a listen. >> as long as there's snow on the surface, as long as it sticks. once i get it cleaned up we'll be good to go. but we've got a few other sites to take care of. going to be probably a long day, busy morning, to say the least. >> i can tell you that coming in here this morning, there were some roads that we had to take that were not plowed. it was just blinding kind of whiteout. also a lot of this conditions, a lot of these conditions are causing a lot of school closings in the area in west virginia, maryland, and virginia. christine? >> all right, thanks so much,

shannon. the school closings are so hard because you had hurricane sandy and then you also had this nasty nor'easter and now this. 70 school districts are worried about pushing well into june because they're running out of days. >> believe me it's happening, too. it is a mess. when are we going to get a break from all this? let's bring in jennifer delgado at the extreme weather center in atlanta. >> we will be through with all this by tomorrow. but we still have to get through the morning as well as into the afternoon. late snow coming down from illinois, pennsylvania, northern virginia, as well as maryland. i know shannon was just live in potomac. the heaviest snow fall. the pockets. of course, pennsylvania, that's where we're going to see the heavy snowfall as we go through the morning hours. want to point out to you, had a nice little snow burst move into northern virginia, now making its way into the maryland, as well as delaware region. snow coming down through parts of new jersey and of course the eastern and the western parts of pennsylvania. so this means driving in to work this morning is going to be messy out there. a lot of these advisories and

warnings are in place through about noon this afternoon, as well as some into about midnight. as i show you some of the totals. we're expecting four to six for areas including ohio. big snow for the mountains, 6 to 12 inches. 8 to 12 through parts of pennsylvania. and into washington, d.c. area, we're expecting anywhere between 1 and 3. since last hour they did add a winter weather advisory for the washington, d.c. area. and then notice for areas including jersey, 3 to 5. and new york city, 1 to 3 inches of snowfall. now some of the travel delays will be significant, as we go throughout the morning and the afternoon. including d.c., philadelphia, as well as into indianapolis, as well as into columbus. but let me show you our flight explorer. to kind of give you an idea. despite the snow out there we are looking at planes in the sky. and there it is for you. you can see the blue, those are the planes taking off. and landing. so despite the mess out there, we are getting things out there. and also want to let you guys know, please let snooki know there is going to be snow coming down through central as well as northern jersey today.

>> news about the jersey shore. jennifer delgado. all right this just in to cnn. u.s. secretary of state john kerry arriving in kabul, afghanistan. he'll meet with afghan president hamid karzai as the u.s. hands over control of the prison that has been a source of friction between these two countries. it comes a day after the secretary met with the president of iraq to try to slow down the flow of weapons and fighters to syria's raging civil war. cnn's nick paton walsh is traveling with the secretary this morning. he's going to join us live as soon as he's able. new developments in the jersey sandusky sex abuse case. we're hearing from him from behind bars thanks to a new controversial documentary. the interviews are part of a film on penn state's head coach called the framing of joe paterno. but paterno's family is distancing themselves from this production. they called the interviews a sad and unfortunate development. that is, quote, transparently self-serving and yet another insult to the victims and anyone who cares about the truth in this tragic story.

coming up at 7:30 we're going to bring you some of the sound from what sandusky said and reaction from the lawyer of one of sandusky's victims. a mississippi state lawmaker found dead inside the home of a former legislator. police believe 53-year-old jessica upshaw shot herself yesterday. jessica upshaw served in the mississippi legislature for nearly ten years for a district along the gulf coast. no word on what she was doing in rottenberry's home. new developments in the economic crisis in cyprus that is affecting u.s. markets. a $13 billion plan from the european union is now in place to bail cyprus out. the deal shrinks cyprus' banking system and account holders at some banks with balances above 100,000 euros they will suffer heavy heavy losses. the deal also calls for dismantling the popular bank of cyprus with shareholders and bond holders they could be wiped out. dozens of people braving freezing weather in front of the supreme court. they're camping out in

anticipation of the court's opening arguments tomorrow on same-sex marriage. the court will hear oral arguments on california's proposition eight. on wednesday it will take up the defense of marriage act. both laws ban same-sex marriage. so a 15 seed is dancing in to the sweet 16. this is a first. for march madness. florida gulf coast rewriting the record books, dunk city we like to call them. the eagles knocking off san diego state 81-71 last night. they are so much fun. they've only been a division one team for six years. they've only been eligible for the tournament for two years. they are just awesome. if they want to keep going they will have to beat the florida gators friday night. then they will make it to the elite eight. here are the remaining match-ups. thursday night wichita state versus la salle. arizona versus ohio state. indiana taking on syracuse and marquette against miami. friday michigan state against duke kansas staking on michigan and florida against florida gulf coast. there's a big cnn bracket anchor

pool christine. who is winning this? >> i'm winning the anchor pool. where are you again? >> i am fourth from last. >> really what i love about this is the amount of time you've spent watching college basketball versus the amount of time i've spent watching college basketball. it also shows you a little bit of analysis might be all you need. >> you're basically telling me you're smarter than i am. >> no, it's really fun this year. it really is. >> i bet you it's really fun for you. >> i had iowa state, and i had marquette which has been good for me. i've got michigan state going all the way. >> you think? >> no, i do. i really do. i'm going to trash talk you until thursday. >> fantastic. >> all right call it a close encounter of the jaws kind. thrill seekers getting a real scare checking out great whites off the coast of south africa. >> whoa! [ bleep ] oh, my gosh. >> i can't -- you got to look at this picture. look at the way its jaws get right in there. tourists thought they were safe inside a cage as the sharks checked out the bait dangling

outside the bars. one shark tried to go right for the divers. ignored the bait, went right for the divers inside the cage. his entire head inside there narrowly missing two divers. as frightening as it looks no one was hurt. the man who shot that incredible video brian plummer will be our guest in the 8:00 hour. >> i can't believe how far in the shark got there. i don't think the cages are supposed to let that happen. >> well, you know, would you be there in the first place? >> no way, jose. >> your brave television anchors would never be. >> in just about three hours we may find out who won the $338.3 million powerball. one winning ticket was sold at this convenience store in new jersey, and lottery officials plan to hold a news conference at 10:00 eastern. this is the fourth largest jackpot in powerball history. the lunch sum payout a cool $221 million. here are your winning numbers from the saturday night drawing 17 did 29, 31, 52, 53 and the powerball is 31 if you do hold

the winning ticket please be my john friend. >> ahead on "starting point," she was cleared of murdering her british roommate but amanda knox could be charged again. italian prosecutors back in court at this moment demanding a new trial. we are live in rome. >> then it's hard to imagine a violent car crash and a 9-year-old's dangerous hike to try and help her father. we're going to tell you that story when "starting point" comes back.

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cnn's ben wedeman is live in rome with the very latest. good morning, ben. >> good morning, christine. the supreme court began listening to the case of amanda knox about 45 minutes ago. now they're looking at a total of 14 separate cases today. but their decision will determine whether amanda knox is, indeed, free of all charges or she will have to go okay ban trial. an emotionally overcome amanda knox is led from an italian courtroom moments after learning she was free at last. the murder conviction against her and former boyfriend raffaele sollecito overturned on appeal. that was october 2011. they had spent four years in prison for the 2007 sexual assault and murder of her roommate, british exchange student meredith kercher. it was a tabloid case that riveted the media, attracting an

army of journalists to the medieval town of perugia where knox and kercher had been studying italian language and culture. knox's tearful return to her family home in seattle, washington, seemed like the end of her ordeal. but it may not have been the end after all. the prosecution is demanding a retrial and will appeal the conviction before the italian supreme court in rome. the wheels of italian justice, however, grind slowly. if the acquittal is overturned, the case could go to an appellate court. if that happens, knox may have to return to italy. if she refuses, the italian authorities could appeal to the u.s. government for her extradition. if the acquittal is upheld, it's case over. rudy gaudet, a native of the ivory coast who was raised here is serving a 16-year prison term for kercher's murder. now, before going in to the court this morning amanda knox's

lawyer told reporters that amanda knox is confident in the italian justice system, and she's looking forward to returning to italy some day as a free woman. christine? >> all right, ben wedeman, thanks, ben, live in rome for us this morning. ahead on "starting point," after taking some painful hits, your wallet getting a little bit of a break at the gas pump. i'm going to tell you what's behind the price drop and whether it will last. and a shocking claim, could a republican presidential candidate really endorse same-sex marriage by 2016. we'll break down karl rove's really interesting interview. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china,

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this just in to cnn, u.s. secretary of state john kerry arriving in kabul, afghanistan, just a short time ago. he's scheduled to meet with afghan president hamid karzai as the u.s. hands over control of a prison that's been a source of friction between the two countries. this of course comes after secretary kerry was traveling in iraq meeting with the iraqi president talking about contentious issues involving iraq and syria. cnn's nick paton walsh is traveling with the secretary this morning. nick, can you give us the latest on this trip? >> certainly. this is, of course, the secretary's sixth trip since president obama's first term, but really the most acrimonious atmosphere to walk in, still the hangover of secretary of defense chuck hagel's trip here, in which president karzai intimated that, in fact, the u.s. had been working with the taliban in some way. we have as we landed received news that the handover of the facility has finally been completed. that will remove one of the thorns in the side of this

relationship. and there has been a recent agreement to change force structures in wardak province. that's also been contentious. there will be a meeting between hamid karzai and john kerry. the two having met for a number of occasions before, and said to have a good pornal relationship. but i can't really stress what an awkward time this has been for the united states and how much a mission, really, john kerry has to try and patch this relationship up. >> an awkward time it is. nick paton walsh in kabul in afghanistan where secretary of state john kerry just landed. he will be trying to smooth over some of those tensions with the afghan president hamid karzai. minding your business this morning. stock futures pointing to a higher open for wall street when it opens at 9:30 eastern. investors are more confident after the tiny country of cyprus and the european union agreed to bailout terms overnight. 47% of you say you don't own stocks. so you're not feeling this rally. well everyone nearly is feeling the gas prices move higher. and now maybe for a time some relief. aaa says national average for a gallon of regular is $3.57 a

gallon. that's down 11 cents in a month. it's 21 cents below what it was this time last year. but gas buddy says we could see another small increase in mid-april or may ahead of the summer driving season. ahead on "starting point" this morning we're going to hear from jerry sandusky for the first time since he went to prison for sexually abusing ten boys over 15 years. we're going to get reaction from a lawyer of one of sandusky's victims. >> plus how did this car end up on a roof? you got to see this. [ lorenzo ] i'm lorenzo. i work for 47 different companies. well, technically i work for one. that company, the united states postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. because at usps.com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free.

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. let's introduce you to today's team. richard socarides, former senior adviser to president clinton now a writer for newyorker.com. former congressman connie mack and former member of congress, mary bono mack from california. they know each other. thanks, guys, for coming in. >> thank you.

>> 28 minutes after the hour. security is tight today for a public memorial for colorado's prison chief. that's because there's a lot of question about what or who may have motivated his killer. >> that's right, tom clements was laid to rest yesterday in a private funeral. he was shot and killed tuesday in his driveway. police believe 28-year-old white supremacist and parolee evan spencer ebel pulled the trigger. he was killed thursday in a shoot-out in texas. it's not clear if he acted alone. jim spellman is in colorado springs. officials there are taking no chances with so many high profile public officials in one place today, are they? >> absolutely not. the fear is tom clements was murdered potentially as part of a conspiracy or a hit guided by somebody in this white supremacist prison gang that evan ebel allegedly was part of. they're called the 211 crew. investigators are working inside the prison, and outside, to see if he was working with any other members of this gang that could potentially mean that other public officials would be at risk. so we expect to see heavy

security here at new life church in colorado springs where later this morning we will have the memorial service. police here reluctant to go into any kind of detail citing operational concerns. security concerns, not wanting to put out exactly what they're doing to keep everybody safe. it's going to be a very emotional service for the family, of course, of tom clements but also for governor hickenlooper. he's caught in a very strange position between his friend tom clements who was murdered, and his longtime friend, jack ebel, whose son evan ebel is the us is petted shooter. listen to governor hickenlooper yesterday morning speaking with candy crowley from "state of the union." >> it sort of felt like i was in a -- caught in a nightmare i couldn't wake up from, right? all these things kept happening. people that i loved they didn't seem to be connected in any way. the emotional toll is much deeper than worrying about security. >> investigators hope to have final confirmation of the

ballistics from texas and the tom clements shooting to confirm that link. but the investigation will be far from over until they figure out his motive and if he worked with anyone else. john, christine? >> all right, jim spellman. thanks. we could find out today how a powerful russian businessman died. an autopsy is set for later this morning for 67-year-old boris berezovsky. he was found dead saturday in his london area home. berezovsky was living in england after a falling-out with the kremlin. he was a vocal critic of russian president vladimir putin and that has led to a lot of speculation about his death. british investigators say they wouldn't found any evidence of third-party involvement. he was found locked inside his bathroom. the door locked from the inside. a group sky dive taking a tragic turn. an instructor and student from iceland found dead in a wooded area in zephyr hills florida outside tampa. investigators say neither of them attempted to deploy their main parachute. they may have somehow lost their altitude awareness. their back upchutes activated automatically but apparently too

late to save them. an extraordinary tale of survival by a 9-year-old girl after a horrifying accident that killed her father. the california highway patrol says she was with him in an suv when it left california's remote sierra hireway and rolled hundreds of feets down an embankment. the girl who had only cuts and bruises escaped and ran up the hill in complete darkness to a nearby house. no one answered. so what she did she went and checked on her dad again then climbed 200 feet up a steep embankment where a passerby found her and called for help. >> it's mind boggling that a little girl at that stage could do something like that. she's a survivor. >> father, as we said, did not survive. the girl says they were returning home to los angeles after a party. investigators are saying that alcohol played a role in the crash. and here's something you don't see every day. the driver was heading down a hill near los angeles and couldn't stop. that's when the cadillac rounded a corner, went airborne and landed on this roof.

>> we took the corner the back air bag deployed and i don't even see where we're going from there, because the view was obstructed and i just heard when we stop i could see myself and my husband's really, really lucky. >> a neighbor used a ladder to help get the couple down. it took a crane to get the cadillac down. authorities say there was a man inside the house but he wasn't hurt. best headline, cadillac on a hot tin roof. same-sex marriage front and center this week with the supreme court taking up two appeals tomorrow. the first republican senator rob portman of ohio is already on record saying he supports it. now listen to karl rove answer a question from abc's george stephanopoulos about it. >> can you imagine the next presidential campaign, a republican candidate saying flat-out i am for gay marriage? >> i could. >> rove quickly changed the subject after that. this is interesting for a variety of reasons. first of all, in 2004 when he was the architect for george w. bush, you know, legend has it that rove tried to drive a wedge

issue on the issue of same-sex marriage of course coming out against it at that point. now he says the republicans could actually have a candidate who supports it, though, let's put the question to connie mack mary bono mack what do you think? possible? >> well i certainly this issue -- i said this weekend to some friends that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when and how. and i think really we're starting to see the debate more about definition. so when you talk about marriage, marriage is a religious institution that i think we ought to protect. and marriage should be between one man and one woman. but i also believe that we ought to afford the same rights and privileges to people who love each other and want to have a family with each other. they ought to be allowed to do that and get all the same rights. >> in california we've had prop 8 which started, people didn't know could they or couldn't they marry their loved one. i've seen knit my neighborhood. you know, in my family certainly. i think senator portman's credit, when you have someone

like this in your family it takes on a whole different meaning to you and you're willing to come out and be brave and say something this brave. in my instance i have a lot of, you know, great dear friends who are gay and they're married and i support it. >> when someone says, like karl rove says it's possible, though, does that carry weight among republican candidates? does that open up the door for someone to perhaps now say they support same-sex marriage? >> i believe it does. absolutely. look i believe it opens the door for people to take risks and to sort of step away from the orthodoxy. and not only karl -- i know my husband's going to disagree with me. he's leaning over to give me the hook. but you know, it opens the door, i think, for people to step away from -- >> i don't think it's that simple. i mean just because that's karl rove's feeling doesn't necessarily mean that candidates across the country now are going to say, oh, well if karl rove said it, then we're going to start moving in that direction. >> this issue is moving so fast. public opinion on this issue is moving so fast. and right here we have the two faces of the republican party,

the more modern face, and the still evolving face of the republican party. >> i'm more modern. >> i will go right here and go further than karl rove went and tell you that i think if public opinion continues to move as quickly as it has recently, in four years from now, i guarantee you that this will not be an issue in the presidential race, and both parties will have candidates that support marriage equality. >> and it shouldn't be an issue. shouldn't be an issue. >> all right, guys. 36 minutes after the hour right now. convicted child sex abuser jerry sandusky speaking out for the first time since he was sent to prison in the penn state child sex abuse case. this morning a documentary filmmaker is playing excerpts from phone conversations that he recorded with sandusky. the filmmaker is appearing on nbc's "today" show. cnn's sarah gannon joins us with more. good morning, sarah. >> hi, john. this guy done ziegler he's a documentary filmmaker out west. he does this thing where he attaches to big stories. he did it with sarah palin

several years ago. he did it a little bit with steubenville rape case a couple of weeks ago. and he also did it with joe paterno story. his agenda, according to his website is very clear. he is trying to clear joe paterno's name. but, he's doing it this time with an interview with the jailhouse interview with jerry sandusky who we all know is a convicted child sex predator and the family is very upset at what he's doing. sources tell me that it's an interesting case because he actually had some paterno followers on twitter. he was raising some money to do a documentary to help exonerate joe paterno and the family has said look, we don't support this. we don't support using, you know, having jerry sandusky basically speak for joe paterno from jail and jerry sandusky is clearly not that credible at this point. >> sara, thanks for joining us. we want to bring in tom klein. he represents sandusky victim number five. he was present for the entire sandusky case from the preliminary hearing to the verdict and tom let me ask you right now what do you make of sandusky speaking from prison in

these recordings that are being played this morning? >> well, to whom he's speaking is interesting. sandusky and a paterno advocate are certainly odd bedfellows. mr. paterno certainly was complicit, and there certainly were major problems with his conduct. mr. sandusky was the root of all of these problems, and mr. sandusky is now saying the same old thing that he has said over and over and over again. he is a convicted felon, and he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail. that's the reality here. >> so what's the motive behind sandusky cooperating with this documentary, and for allowing himself to be taped behind bars and allowing these conversations to be aired? what what does he gain? >> mr. sandusky has always looked for a friendly forum. most interesting part of the sandusky trial, as far as he was concerned, was his lawyer explaining to the jury at the very end in the closing argument

that mr. sandusky didn't take the stand because he didn't need to face the prosecutor in cross-examination because he faced the most -- the toughest prosecutor in the world in bob costas. which, of course, is all silliness. he looks and he seeks for attention. he's narcissistic. he can't accept his punishment. and he's looking to tell his story again. he's looking to tell it in a friendly forum and i'm sure he was convinced that this would be a friendly forum. >> how does that make the victims feel? >> terrible. enough is enough. my client insists that he testify at the sentencing hearing, which he did. he faced mr. sandusky, and he told him all of the things that he did to ruin his life. i am quite sure that every victim feels the same way. >> do you think he'll admit some of the things he says right now against him if you take this to civil court try to get some money out of it will this help you anything he says from behind bars? >> nothing mr. sandusky says or

doesn't say is going to affect the civil lawsuits in my opinion. he, as a convicted felon and in fact mr. paterno's family and mr. paterno back when blamed mr. sandusky. penn state blamed mr. sandusky. everyone believes that he is the root cause of this problem. there's no controversy about that. the only issue remaining is pen state's complicity. penn state's enabling mr. sandusky to do what he did. that's what's on the table in the civil cases. >> so, so one of the, one of the pieces of sound from jerry sandusky in this interview that was aired on nbc where jerry sandusky essentially saying he doesn't understand how somebody could have walked into the shower room, mike mcqueary and, and, and jumped to the conclusions that he did about what was going on in there. i mean he's really attacking the mcqueary witness, and also that whole episode that really turned the stomachs of the jury. >> i was there. i saw mike mcqueary testify with

conviction, and without a doubt he was believed by the jury. he told a compelling, compelling story. and i don't understand how mr. sandusky doesn't understand that mr. mcqueary saw what mr. sandusky had repeated over and over again in the shower room. with little boys. he saw it. he -- he told people about it. mr. mcqueary did. and the facts were the facts. so mr. sandusky now saying oh, i don't understand what mr. mcqueary saw, well it was evident in the courtroom what he saw, with clear conviction, and without any doubt, at least to my credibility, having been a trial lawyer for 35 years. >> you know what do you make of the paterno family so quickly saying that they don't endorse this documentary, they don't endorse any of this, you know, that they, the truth will be the truth, not, not this, or, or any other, even the louis freeh report. what do you make of that? >> well, it's very interesting. mr. ziegler's had this website

up for a long time, which is, you know, called the lies about joe paterno or something like that. the fact of the matter is, that i haven't heard them discredit him previously. he now gets discredited when he gets into bed, if you will, with mr. sandusky. then they want to set some distance. of course, the paterno family wants to set distance from mr. sandusky. he is a convicted felon, and he was the root cause. the problem the paternos have is that mr. pat earno, in the documents that we all have, and that have been aired in public by mr. louis freeh, clearly show that joe paterno was complicit in this whole, sordid, ugly affair. >> all right, tom kline, hearn for victim number five. thank you for coming in and talking to us about this this morning. >> my pleasure. >> jerry sandusky speaking for the first time by phone from behind bars everyone hearing tape of that for the first time this morning. tonight the man behind that documentary i'm just telling you

about john ziegler will be on piers morgan live. ahead on "starting point," mother nature may be getting in the way but tiger woods could be within hours of reclaiming the number one world ranking.

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so tiger woods returned to the top of the golf word sort of on pause this morning thanks to mother nature. tiger had a three-stroke lead yesterday when the skies just opened up, and brutal weather. play resumed in just over two hours from now with a win tiger would move back into the number one spot in the world rankings. rachel nichols is with us right now to tell us all about it. bay hill, tiger just owns this place. >> yeah, absolutely. he lives right nearby. he's won this tournament seven times. pretty much he knows how the ball is going to react to every blade of glass there. but also there is no better finisher when he's playing ahead than tiger woods. he has gone into tournaments holding the lead on the final day 42 times. 40 of them he's come out the winner.

i'd take those odds. i don't know about you guys. he's up throw pop we think it's going to look good for him today. goes back to world number one. first time in 2 1/2 years. he's playing as well as anybody else. lindsey vonn, two-time olympic medalist, beautiful. life's pretty good for tiger woods right now. >> he is certainly in the news. between the victory he's been having almost every week now and these pictures which they very publicly posted for the world to see. >> they went on facebook to say gave us privacy, in our relationship, which is a little ironic. >> there's been some talk about maybe they were trying to -- the paparazzi talker situation. they're happy and having a good time. maybe we'll see her at augusta. we'll be watching for her. >> this tournament this weekend is pretty much his home court, right? home court advantage for him? i mean this is a court that he, he lives there, he knows it. >> it's basically the entire world came to play pickup basketball in your driveway. and they said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's fine. we know how everything bounces off the backboard.

that's what this is for tiger woods. we would expect him to win. it will be a huge news story that i'm sure i will be sitting talking to you tomorrow morning if he loses because it would be huge if he loses. and this is again a great position for him to be in going into the next few weeks. there's no better time for tiger woods to be playing well going into the next major, the masters, where he plays better than anyone. >> he has a new swing coach right i read something about -- >> somebody knows a lot about this? >> i do want to say, though, that tiger is not the one who hit a ball out of a tree yesterday. >> no. >> i do want to make sure we get to that. that's pretty exceptional. >> what a shot. >> yeah, i mean you know, he climbed a tree, he's up about 15 feet. the guy he's playing with said i knew they were looking around the tree, then all of a sudden i look up and he's in the tree. those are too very different things. he wedges himself up into a branch, hits the shot out. unfortunately he said that he did actually jam his shoulder while he was up there. i saw him jump about eight feet down, which i'm sure gave all of his sponsors a heart attack,

considering he could have broken an ankle while he was down there. >> did the one stroke save him? >> it didn't in fact. he chunked the next shot. he played pretty poorly until the delay and withdrew from the tournament citing the shoulder injury. >> i no that vantage point. if you get a good -- you know, you can get that ball up upon the green. >> without hitting out of the tree. that's the only place -- the thing about tiger a win there will bring him back to number one. for tiger woods the biggest thing is the majors, regaining one of these majors. he hasn't won since 2008 now. >> absolutely. and he's got that record in sight. there was a long time where people said oh, my gosh there's no way he's not going to shatter it. he's going to become the all-time major winner and then, he, of course, slowed down and he hasn't won in so long and everybody thought, okay, maybe this is just never going to happen. and it shows we should not go to extremes about anything, certainly not tiger woods. we'll just have to see how it plays out. >> all right, rachel nichols, thanks so much. >> ahead on "starting point," coney island making a comeback.

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welcome back to starting-point. disturbing story to tell you about. america is at a greater risk of a bioterror accident. a report claims lab workers are more likely to have an accident handling germs like anthrax because there is no nationwide standard for lab design and operations. a recent audit in 2012 also found bioterror germs were transferred to unauthorized facilities. the usda is challenging many of

the findings calling the report's language, quote, unduly alarming. another sign new york city is slowly bouncing back from hurricane sandy. coney island officially open for business once again. business leaders hit the park over the weekend. it was chilly, but they got to ride on the famous wonder wheel and cyclone. electrical systems had to be replaced after the storm surge pretty much destroyed them. >> can where e talk about the h streak? it continues. lebron james pulling in 32 points in the 109-77 victory sunday over the bobcats. 26th win in a row. just accept sseven shy of the a record. tonight they're against the orlando magic. >> on the subject of victory, let's talk about march madness.

of all the cnn anchors entered into a very big cnn anchor pool, who is winning right now? >> it's shocking being but i fact checked it again and again and i'm still number one. where are you? >> i'm fourth from last. let me ask you, how much do you know about basketball? >> doesn't matter how much i know. it's how much i know about the fundamentals of each team. i picked them like stocks. and i made always stock portfolio out of them. so far it's working. i don't have any money on anything, though. just bragging rights and trash talk. >> do you even know who the final four? >> i have michigan state going all the way. that's it. >> there you have it. ahead, would you believe it she's actually win something and would you believe it's actually string? check out the st. louis arch. winter storm warnings all over the east today. >> we'll talk to a diver who captured this incredible video of a great white shark getting into the shark cage, what he says happened. you're not going to believe it. that's next. i'm a conservative investor.

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welcome back. our "starting point," it's spring, they tell us at least. we're getting walloped by major winter storms. it is headed east after dropping up to a foot of snow in parts of the midwest. what you need to know in live team coverage coming up. plus jerry sandusky speaking out for the first time since he was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing ten boys. what he's saying now about the trial and some of the people who testified. and then way too close for comfort. way, way taoo close. we're talking with a man who

filmed this shocking video of a great white getting inside the cage with divers. that's not supposed to happen, folks. >> it's monday, march 25th. "starting point" begins right now. let's introduce you to today's team. former senior adviser to president clinton now a write forenew yorker.com. former florida congressman connie mack and mary bono mack. >> rub it into half the country. >> that's why california is the promise land. >> we were out on the water fishing this weekend. >> it's nice for them. for everyone else, pretty much stings right now. because winter in its last gasp we hope. from missouri to pennsylvania, millions of people dealing with rainy, snowy, slushy messes.

in indianapolis, too many fender benders to even count. the weather rendering the arch in st. louis nearly invisible. parts of eastern indiana and western ohio were under winter storm warnings and the system is continue to go track eastward. susan candiotti is in dayton, ohio. jennifer is at the cnn weather center in atlanta. we'll start in dayton. good morning, susan. >> reporter: hi, john. good morning. it's a mess here like it is in so many other places. the roads here however are mainly clear. the main highways, i just got off the phone with police and they say they're having no major problems. on the other hand, the winter storm warning here is in effect up mid afternoon. we still have the snow coming in. and across the country it seems as though even though it's spring, winter is holding on tight. icy roads, slippery going near

st. louis. as a pickup truck slides down a street. just about everyone's tired of winter weather. in spring. >> it's crazy. i'm just sick of all the snow. like i was so ready for it back at christmas, but now i'm over it. >> reporter: plows were tripling up in some parts of missouri as relentless snow blanketed highways. in st. louis, nasty weather forcing cancellations. >> right now it will be a long day sitting around waiting. we had one flight canceled and rerouted. >> reporter: severe weather sweeping into the south. high winds uprooting trees in central florida. >> can't believe a free fell on my car. >> reporter: violent thunderstorms temporarily washing out tiger woods' shot at a number one ranking after two holes. at the arnold palmer invitational, broken tree limbs and flooded fairways postponing the tournament. a wind gust clocked at 86 miles an hour, a jet swept against a

hangar. in kansas city, about 8 inches of snow forced churches to call off services. coloradoans were among the first to feel the storm's fury. whiteout conditions, 150 mile very much of interstate shut down. even a major pileup on i 25 that left a tractor trailer in flames. by late sunday in indiana and ohio, the skies opened up, dropping freezing rain and snow. making people wonder where is spring? >> when it comes it comes. it's ohio. we get snow. >> everybody says, oh, yeah, spring is around the corner. >> reporter: john, i always keep a promise. last hour i told you i was going to get a step stool. it's here. that was great, christine. that woke me up. speed limit, that's what it was, 40 miles an hour. look, they have had anywhere

from 4 to 8 inches of snow in this area. and just about now everyone is saying including us enough already. >> you've been battling with that sign all morning and we appreciate it. thanks, susan. >> let's go now to the atlantic coast which has gotten particularly hard hit this season. shannon travis is live in potomac, maryland. >> reporter: spring team meet win tr's wrath, right? it's been coming down pretty hard here since we've been here for the past few hours. i went and got my ruler just to take a look and measure it exactly and see how much. we put it down in there. and, yep, 4 inches. it was about 3 just 30 minutes ago. we're right here on i 270 on. this is a major artery into the nation's capital. people coming from as far west as west virginia, as far north as pennsylvania.

good and bad news. the bad news is that the roads are pretty sliushy. about good news is that traffic is moving pretty steadily, possibly because congress is in recess right now and a lot of schools in the area are closed. another thing that we're watching is just the weight of this snow, it's pretty heavy and it forms pretty solidly. i'll have us pan over to the tree. that tree is essentially covered with snow, that's a problem because snow like that on trees, on bigger trees, next to power lines could actually bring down the power lines. so that's a concern. one other thing, we spoke with some plow operators here and they're trying to move all of this mess out as quickly as they can. >> thanks, shannon. >> in parts of kentucky and tennessee, folks are dealing with hail and potentially damaging winds. i-reporter sent thus video from

their front porch. so the big question is when can we expect a break from all the extreme weather? let's bring in jennifer delgado. >> hard to follow susan and shannon especially with the fancy props that they have. but i have the radar and we are still looking at snow out there still coming down very lightly in illinois, heavier batches moving through indiana as well as into the ohio valley. but of course we're also looking at parts of the northeast, mid-atlantic, what we're dealing with is snow and the snow has been coming down very good. starting to taper off in the washington, d.c. area, but notice for areas including delaware, into maryland, snow there. coastal regions will be looking at rain with snow mixed in at times. for areas like new york city, we're expecting 1 to 3 inches of snowfall for areas including jersey, 3 to 5 including central and northern parts of jersey. anywhere in purple and pink, that indicates winter weather advisories as well as warnings. areas right along the mountains of course will be the big winner

with 6 to 12 inches. and then in dayton, we'll add on another 4 inches of snowfall. and i want to show you some of the totals just from this morning alone. for parts of virginia, harrisonburg, 7.5. arlington, 2.4. baltimore, 2.5. of course this will mean a lot of travel delays for d.c., philadelphia, even some for new york. and of course for indianapolis as well as into columbus. they are really getting in to that snow coverage. >> jennifer, thanks. new develops in the jerry sandusky child molestation case. the former penn state assistant football coach telling a documentary filmmaker that much of the evidence used to convict him was false. the filmmaker played some of the experts on the "today" show including a clip where sandusky questions the testimony of key witness mike mcqueary calling him a liar. >> there's a lot of things that

transpired. and i think these investigators, the way they led it all business, you know, his story changed a lot. >> sandusky also denies mcqueary's account of his abuse of so-called victim number two. >> what do you make of this when you're hearing a guy speak from prison, a guy who chose not to testify in his own defense, now he decides to talk to a filmmaker abo filmmaker. >> he's a liar. i don't know how else to describe it. here is a guy urks he, he's bee convicted, he's a felon. it is so sickening to me this whole story. and that he continues to talk about it, bring it out into the press which has to be very difficult for the families. but i wish he would just go away and be quiet. >> a lot of victims and his conviction of 30 to 60 years, they hoped that was the end of this for them. this certainly stirs things up. >> the worst part is that it's disturbing to those people involved, victims.

you would hope that people would be allowed to move on. and i think it's probably, you know, you could expect that he would continue to try to say that he was innocent, but we just ought to start ignoring it. it's hard to ignore, but i think people should just ignore it. and as connie said, the man's been convicted of these crimes. we ought to stop listening to him. >> prosecutors in italy asking to retry amanda knox for the 2007 murder of her college roommate. knox spent four years in an italian prison until lower courts overturned her conviction back in 2011. italy's highest court is expected to rule today on their request. the court is also expected to rule on whether to drop slander charges against knox. that would allow her to sue her accusers. new this morning secretary of state john kerry landing in kabul for a surprise visit to afghanistan. he's scheduled to meet with afghan president hamid karzai at the presidential palace. this is kerry's sixth visit to afghanistan since president

obama's first term began. this is his first trip as secretary of state. yesterday secretary kerry was in iraq meeting with iraqi president al maliki blaming fueling civil war by allowing weapons and fighters in so syria through iraq. >> a new sick hole opening up in the same florida community where a 37-year-old man was swallowed alive late last month. local media outlets reporting the ground gave way between two homes over the weekend. the sinkhole is about 8 feet wide, 10 feet deep. two homes on either side have been evacuated as a precaution. 20,000 bucks and chest bump and bear hug with kevin did your rarnt, quite a birthday weekend for a fan. dougherty got a chance to try half court shot and sinks it. talk about a man with his priorities. first thing he did was hug his girlfriend. smart move. and then it is a hug or more like a tackle from the 6'11"

kevin durant. hard to hold up kevin durant when he gives you a bear hug. quite a memorable 24th birthday for mr. dougherty. >> i think the girlfriend was the one who got the tickets to the game for his birthday. so she deserves that and so much more. isn't that awesome? >> i would hug my girlfriend before kevin-will-well, my wife in this case. >> yeah, explain that one. >> that was my outside voice. ahead, a great white shark breaks in to a dive cage. it's crazy. we'll talk to the guy who filmed this video about what went wrong. or i guess what went right since no one got hurt.

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take a look. >> are you going to be good? >> no cart wheels. i'm a mom now. i'm back and i love it. >> i don't want to marry you if you to stuff like that. >> you make me feel like a really bad person and i'm not. >> we agreed it's never going to be like an easy ride. >> i just moved to jersey and i'm trying to be like a jersey girl. a real jersey girl. >> her baby just baptized yesterday. there is a lot of news to report in snooki world in addition to the birth of her child and baptism. she has recently lost 42 pounds and showing off the new look all over the cover of us magazine. everyone is talking about it. >> and she has just entered the studio. there she is. nice to see you. >> hello. thanks for having me.

>> do you go by nicole? >> i do. it's my real name. so i appreciate that. >> awesome. >> everyone's talking, and i know this because i know everyone, everyone is talking about the cover of us magazine. you lost 42 pounds. how did you do that? >> basically dedication. i got a trainer right when i could work out. i just started going every single day, eating healthy, not really drinking anymore. just being healthy and fit. >> how do change your image. we know who you are because of the drinking and the came rousing and fights in bars and kissing a girl and all in other stuff.rousing and fights in bars and kissing a girl and all in other stuff. how do you take brand snooki into something that can carry you into mother snooki? >> i just explain is it like this. i was 21 when the show came out. so basically i was just growing

up. i can crazy stuff when i was 21. drinking, having the time of my life. and now to where i'm settled down, 25 years old, i have a child, and i cooperate be any happier. i love being mom. >> all that stuff before, was that for the cameras or was that real? >> that was real. i was just a nut job. like i'm on on tv, the alcohol is for free, i'm going to have the time of my life. >> and are you going to let your chide watch the reruns? >> it's inevitable it will happen. hopefully when he's 16 he'll watch it and i can explain to him mommy was just a little crazy. don't did what i did. >> what if your kid was like that? >> i'd till him to calm down, relax. >> what's next for you? >> right now i'm working on my pregnancy book. working on my clothing line. and hopefully more seasons of snookie and j wow because i love to show the not drinking side of me. >> tell me about the -- yesterday you had your baby baptized. tell me about that. and you live with your fiance's

parents, is that right? >> kre. we' yes. we're living in the basement until our house is being built so it's very convenient. i love them. >> i tried that in politics. it was 20s, i had the time of my life. just doesn't work for me. >> what were you doing? >> nothing. it's all on youtube. >> but you have 00 been able to build -- can you retire off of the-46 what you've done so far or do you need to work going forward? how has it been in terms of a financial background? >> i'm not complaining. i take care of my parents which i love. but i would still like to still work. because i want more kids. so i have to support everyone. so i would like to continue as long as this goes. >> thank you so much for coming in. great to see you. >> best of luck to you and your little guy, too. he's so cute. ahead the pictures we've been talking about all morning. a great white shark breaks in to a dive cage and the diver was trapped inside. next we'll talk with the man who filmed the video.

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so two divers off the coast of south africa experienced quite an encounter with a great white shark that was way, way too close for comfort. the shark swam up to the diving cage, rammed hits he had through the bars. it was all caught on video. you have to look at this. >> oh, my god. >> stand back, stand back!

>> joining us now is the man who shot the incredible video. ryan plumber from cape town, south africa. >> i think brian might have invented new words in that. please don't say them again, but obviously a shocking moment. >> so you were in the boat looking down at this as it was all happening. explain to me what went on. >> sure. so first off, i was actually in the cage just about five minutes before then with my friend richard, and we were in that very same corner where the shark ended upcoming in and say has gone low at a very close proximity. so i just popped out of the water. and i threw my wet suit off and decided to get my camera out to try to take some pictures and soak in and get my money's worth from the howhole experience. next thing you know, the shark crashes in to the cage and there is a huge frenzy p activity. colors, flashes, screams and a

lot of uncertainty as to what was going on. and, yeah, then finally the sleeks a sirens of concern came down and people were excited that they had experienced something so entertaining, i guess. >> who was in the cage? you got to tell me, how close were they getting a little kiss from a great white shark? >> there is not much room for each of the people. there are actually eight of us in total. i wasn't there at the time, but the guy who was directly if n. front of the shark, roger, he was the one who was directly up in front of it. and, yeah, so not much space. you can't really go left or right or up. and his reaction was to go down. there's a couple feet beneath the water, so he managed to curl

up into a ball down there and wait until the teeth were left. >> first thing you hear is awesome. you listen to that, some guy is like, great, the shark is coming in the kamg. b cage. but the other thing i'm thinking is who puts themselves in a cage with a bunch of bait around them? is that smart? >> fair question. yeah, i mean, it's a big thing to do here in south africa. especially the great white shark capital of maybe the world i think. so part of the experience my sister and friends were visiting and it was part of the experience of what they wanted to see and do here. so, yeah, we all did it together. and it was exciting. thrilling. we got more than our money's worth, i think. but it was really interesting to see those creatures in the natural habitat. i'd probably do it again. >> did anyone go back in the tank after that? >> yeah, i was back in there 15, 20 minutes later.

everyone went back in. it was a freak occurrence. so we were kind of put at ease and we jumped back in there and enjoyed the rest of our day there. >> brian, you might have a lot more issues than i thought. but thank you so much for joining us. amazing with i hvideo. ahead, secretary of state john kerry making a surprise visit to afghanistan this morning. we have new details. plus she is one fearless mother. a deputy decides she cannot wait for animal control, so she tackles this alligator herself outside a school. we'll talk with her life about what she was thinking. alligators, sharks, every reason to stay with us. come on, nowadays lots of people go by themselves.

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amanda knox for murder, we'll talk to one of her attorneys about it. and take a look at this police officer wrestling an alligator outside a school. we will talk wi her life so you know she survived. we'll ask her why she did this. but first john kerry is in kabul for an unannounced visit. as we told you, he's meeting with karzai to talk about the l taliban and u.s. security. nick paton walsh is on the phone. nick, what is going on today? >> reporter: this is a key meeting for john scary who will be meeting president karzai, a bh man who he is said to have a good personal relationship. so much to get to after the acrimony with chuck hagel. he will apparently be assuring president karzai in a bid to try

to find some sort of reconciliation that may bring an end to the fighting. after president karzai's comment that the u.s. is somehow colluding. we also understand from a senior department official that a place kerry will not be traveling to, of course many had thought, continuing on to pakistan. but the secretary has decided that given the atmosphere in pakistan, the transfer from civilian government to civilian government, he decided that was not the time necessarily to go there just in case it would be misinterpreted as u.s. backing for a particular party. but here in kabul, a relationship that has to be strong in the months ahead.

trying to get the reconciliation talks to continue. >> nick, thanks so much. a key defense witness in the jodi arias murder trial is back on the stand today and he could face more questions from the skrir. the prosecutor will continue to cross-examine dr. samuels. he claims arias suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. the next witness for the defense is expected to a be a domestic violence expert. a student at brown university has been missing for more than a week. last seen march 16. he left his apartment without his wallet or cell phone. his family says he has struggled with depression. he was on an appractice offed leave fr approved leave from the school. mayor bloomberg is shelling out $12 million for ads targeting congressional candidates who are against

tougher gun alcohcontrol measur. here is the nra's ceo firing back on "meet the press". >> criminals aren't going to be checked. they're not going to do this. the shooters in tucson and aurora and newtown, they're not going to be checked. >> la papierre said members hav been sending small contributions to send a message to the millionaire that he can't buy america. >> 12 million bucks outside spending, can that make a difference? >> depends on if he targets it and focuses it, it could. but this is a tough issue for people. if the mayor thinks that he's going to spend $12 million to keep people from getting guns, it's just not going to work. >> nra says here you have anti-gun activist and can inspire the nra base, too.

>> he's not going to just spend $12 million. that's just the start of it, which i think is fantastic. and he's very committed to this. and his point is that the american people polling shows want back ground checks, they favor assault weapons ban. nra comes back and says people don't favor this, but the truth is that the public opinion polling indicates that people want effective gun control measures and the mayor is going to give a voice to those people. and it's a battle that is ongoing. we sat here, we talked a lot about sandy hook and now it looks like background checks and assault weapons bans are not going to be in the democratic party legislation going up to the hill. and the nra is winning again. the word should go out the nra is winning again. >> i would say the nra is winning because the people want their guns and they do in the want the fwechgovernment to tak from them.

>> your question was congressional districts and will it matter. yeah, it can. there was a democrat on democrat race in california and this issue was the deciding factor pretty much. incumbent member of congress and i believe mayor bloomberg played in that race. and joe lost to a fellow democrat. so, yes, in small medium markets, this kind of money matters and i think people will pay attention. but it depends on the makeup of the district. but it really can be a huge factor. >> we'll see if that $12 million as you said is just the beginning or if there is more to come. other news right now, anning on organize teen egon teen beli the first person with down syndrome he to climb to the base of mt. everest. a two week, 70 mile hike. what was it like? >> you're surrounded by several mountain peaks well over 20,000 feet and the highest geographical point in the world. so to be standing in that place that is a monument to all the

history and to have eli leading us into that point, it was surreal in a lot of ways. >> they did to raise money for eli's foundation and raise awareness for what children with disabilities can do. >> and what their parents can accomplish. really awesome for his dad, too. a hear could go sgi tdecide fate of amanda knox. knox and her ex-boyfriend spent four years in an italian prison before being freed in 2011. >> but today the italian supreme court will rule on an appeal from prosecutors -- an appeal to reopen the case. so joining us now from philadelphia is ted simon, part of amanda knox's defense team since she was first convicted. ted, just explain this to us for people who are following the case super closely. what is going on today, why today and what can come of it? >> sure. thank you for having me. yeah, let's understand the procedural posture that we're this today.

the appellate court jury as you just mentioned was well within its jurisdiction and authority to determine whether or not the trial court had committed errors of law. but additionally, that appeal the lat court jury was also well within its authority and jurisdiction to reexamine, reinvestigate, reevaluate and ultimately redetermine what the evidence was and come up with the true facts. once they conducted a searching inquiry which also including the hiring of independent experts to examine all of the evidence, whether it was with regard to prosecution witness testimony, prosecution physical evidence, or prosecution forensic conclusions, ultimately that appellate court jury rightfully concluded that the evidence as presented in the trial court was either absent, nonexistent, inaccurate, unreliable and simply wrong. and that is why they concluded

amanda was wrongfully convicted. which brings us until today. we're before the supreme court of italy, arguments are ongoing as we speak. but the supreme court of italy unlike the appellate court jury, has a very narrow scope of appeal and review. all they're looking at is whether or not the appellate court jury acted well before its authority and jurisdiction and whether or not they commit nted any error of law. we're hopeful that they will realize that there was no error of law and the verdict of not guilty should remain. >> before we talk about some of the evidence, i want to ask you obviously it was a huge relief for amanda and her family when she was acquitted in 2011. what can you tell us about how she's feeling right now? >> i would much prefer to let amanda speak for herself when she will do so. but i can tell you amanda, her

parents and her extended family have exhibited unparalleled patience, dignity, courage, resilience, fortitude throughout this nightmarish horrific prosecution. so they're doing as well as anyone could be expected and of course everyone is waiting. >> there's a dicey legal issue here. if the supreme court rules against amanda on this appeal, then the issue becomes will the u.s. extradite her to italy to serve time again. how likely do you think that is? >> well, the real question we have today and the only question before us is the review of the supreme court and their narrow scope of review of what the appellate court jury did. and that's the only matter and that's the only matter that we're really focused on. so we're certainly hopeful and prayerful that the supreme court

will realize that the appellate court jury acted well within its bounds and correctly determined she was wrongly convicted. the appellate court -- >> but ted, just yes or no, would she go back to italy to stand trial? >> the only way i can answer that question is to say that amanda and her family have abided by all rules, regulations and the rule of law. and i think what's very important here is the appellate court jury brightly illuminated the wrongfulness of the conviction. and that is simply what is before the supreme court. >> all right, ted simon, our thanks to you. ahead, ford apologizing this morning for some really startling international ad designs that made it on to the internet. we'll tell why you they upset so many people. and then an alligator gets too close to a school, so one cop takes matters in to her own hands. the american dream is of a better future,

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welcome back to starting poin point. stock futures pointing higher right now. the last week of the first quarter, time to spring clean your finances. here's five things to do right now. first, check your credit. go to annualcreditreport.com, you get a free report each year. second, refinance your mortgage. average rates on a 30 year are around 3.5%. number three, rebalance your portfolio. go to cnnmoney.com/ultimate portfolio. take my quiz to find out what your risk tolerance is and how you should be invested in this market. number four, pay yourself first. are you getting a tax refund? maybe you got a raise or bonus. save it before you even notice it. put it away for college. don't spend it. save it. and finally, check your insurance. make sure your homeowner's policy is up-to-date, get

renter's insurance if you represent and make sure you have the rigght blend of life insurance. >> good advice. >> i'm going to take that quiz. >> i do everything you say. >> i hate new year's resolutions about money because no one keeps them. >> there is much better thing to do with some of that money. come to florida and spend it. >> there you go. >> on trending on the web this morning, tilda swinton's public snooze. the oscar winner is on display at the museum of modern art in new york. she's done this before in europe, but this is the first time, her american premiere of sleeping in a box. lucky for us. she does this only a few times a year and the paeshappearances at scheduled. i need to sleep.

veterans group want an apology the from cbs. they got it. >> we want to apologize to veterans particularly those who served in vietnam as well as to their families and any viewers who were offended by the broadcast. >> part of previous week's episode was filmed where an american b-52 was shot down. veterans groups said use being wreckage in a prop in a television show was offensive. the head of the american legion has accepted cbs' apology. >> you have to look at this, ford and its marketing partner areal apologizing for leaked ads that show women bound and gagged in the trunks of some of their cars. the advertisements were designed to demonstrate the room any tru trunks. in one ad paris hilton shows the kardashians captive. ads were never approved by ford.

saying we deeply regret the publishing of posters that were distasteful and contrary to the standards of decency. these were never intended for publication and should never have been created let alone uploaded to the internet. this was the result of individuals acting without appropriate oversight and appropriate actions have been taken within the agency to deal with the situation. >> ford also issued an apology. >> does look like there's a lot of room back there, though. >> you can fit home snookis? >> ford says we deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it never should have happened. the posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within ford and our agency partners. together with our partner, we are reviewing approval and oversight processes to help ensure nothing like this ever happens again. that's about 10,000 words of

apologies for two car ads. clearly they offended a lot of people. >> they were really sorry. >> that's four words. take much less. >> somebody hit send way too soon on those posters. next we've been talking about this story all morning right here on "starting point". a brave mother, a on on duty deputy decided to care of an alligator problem. we will speak with her life.

jessica mcgregor says it's all in a day's work.

last tuesday she found herself up against a 7-at that time alligator while conducting patrol. classes were about to dismiss, so she decided for students' safety, she would wrestle the l alligator. >> what makes you decide that it has to be you, that you're not going to wait for the trained professionals here? >> i didn't see or nobody else -- everybody else there didn't know what to do with an alligator. and being that we're so close to residential area, we had kids, they were leaving school, walking down the road, the sidewalks. we had a group of kids getting ready to do cheer leading or football practice right on the other side of the fence. and with the trapper over two hours away, you have to do something right then. >> how did you know -- no one else knew what to do.

how did you know how to get that thing corralled? >> well, growing up in the south end of lake county, lots of water ways, lots of lakes and ponds. they would cross the property back and forth. and my brother and i growing up, we just -- if they got in our way, we would move them. so just as a kid learning to deal with the problem. >> you really looked like you knew what you were doing. how big was this thing and how much damage could he potentially have done? >> well, being that he had crawled up into some bushes, had any of the kids that -- if they had dropped a ball and thrown it in the bushes and gone in there to get it and they didn't see him, key have done serious damage to one of them. or if he had come up on the field and he could have really scared some kids or hurt somebody. and it just didn't seem like a

good idea to leave him there and wait on a trapper. >> it looked like he was pretty mad. he was snapping at you. is it true once you get the jaws shut and you get behind him, then you've rendered him pretty tame at that point? >> yeah. i mean, the way i -- when i got down on his back, the main important thing in my mind was just keeping my knees behind his front legs. keep my hands on the back of his neck pressing down. that wouldn't he couldn't back out, couldn't turn around and get me. and once he expelled much of that energy, i was able to reach forward and pinch his know down to the ground and pull both jaws up so he couldn't fight me as much. and the other officer you see in the video, he actually taped the jaw shut for me. >> what did your boss say? are you like the coolest person ever at this school? >> he was in a lot of shock. he didn't -- he wasn't expecting

to hear about an ally ga alliga campus. >> is it true someone was driving by on a moped and not to offer help, but instead to video what you were doing? >> yeah. very true. >> we have our own john berman crocodile hunter here. but john is actually -- that's a big one right there. it's not as easy as it looks. >> that guy is roped up. it is terrifying. i do not know how you did it. i have tremendous operation for you. jessie, well done. congratulations. thanks for coming this morning. >> thank you. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix.

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